ONESHOT: Purity, Innocence, Patience
by RAW-SYNTH3TICA
Summary: Mild SLASH - T15 - Michael/Gabriel - Pre-Movie, Gabriel reflects back on memories while coaxing Michael out of revolting against God's orders... *Gabriel's one-sided POV in poetry*


Mild SLASH T15: contains light angst & purposely incorrect biblical references. (yes, i believe i'm going to hell)

ALL IS FICTIONAL & NOT MINE, Legion, events leading to before Michael departs to earth.

Pairing: Michael & Gabriel

* * *

><p>ONE-SHOT:<p>

Purity, Innocence, Patience

(Gabriel's One-Sided POV)

* * *

><p><em>Dedicated, merciful<em>

_Virtuous, dutiful_

Not a prayer missed his ear as the sun spilled an eternity, an endless infinity, the golden lake of morning where night never touched, only skimming the edges of heaven. Michael flexed the muscles in his wings, the permanent weight on his back, the soft, yet powerful quills collecting the telltale sheen of dew and settled them closer against his back, the whispered tidings to He echoed musically when he closed his eyes to listen. The warm air stilled, flowing with each biblical string clipping and continuing impromptu, the countless voices pleading, quietly chanting, imploring, asking.

_Serene, beautiful_

_My brother, Michael_

Gabriel appeared from behind an obtuse dark gray pillar and ignored the picturesque dawn. Transparent white tiers of clouds and mist swirled about the dark of the general's cloaked back, a single sunlit ocean of light flooded the archangel's face, leaving incandescent skin and feathery strands of hair in it's conquering flood. The second in holy command watched as the face molded by their heavenly Father, the perfectly shaped lips wordlessly give names to the myriad voices passing through their breaths, like the unwritten spaces around letters. Only the commanding archangel knew each and Every name of the humankind as they paused in their devastatingly unforesightful lives to silently worship.

_Much is his love for our father_

_Such is me, bereft for he_

_My serene, beautiful brother_

_Michael,_

Every aspect of Michael was that he be made perfectly, completely in His very image, but further glorious was He still, further one-sided was God's resplendency. Long since had heaven's armies kept hell at bay, which forced their attire from their once early sort of wear, consisting only of a cloth. Now that times evolved, so had the regulations of vesture, a new touchstone now comprising of a cloak and simple armor. Where gentler eons shifted to harsher realities, thence came the need for celestial guardsmen; Gabriel fit in without trouble, while Michael opted not to hold weapons against mankind. Defied but not completely untrustworthy, He gave Michael a second chance to keep peace or die amongst the mislead flock below.

_Bereaved am I like thyself_

_Never jealous, never in scorn_

_Merely am I lovelorn_

_Only, singularly_

The archangel made his decision, choosing to lead and personally train the winged legion for the next Armageddon. Doing so meant killing the creatures he held a special place in his heart for, possibly ending all lives and denying all souls salvation in the process. The wicked outweighed the worthy in the eyes of all that was holy, leading to Michael having his pleas denied time and time again that he prove humanity still retained an unmoving innocence once lost before Noah set to sea. The end of earth was nigh. The enticers of the damned withdrew their forces from earth entirely for Hell was overflowing, unabated, the fiery serpentine pits filled. He, the ruler of the skies then knew…this was man's doing. Needing no hand, accepting not an ambuscade, they merely rebelled without hesitation. They wittingly sinned endlessly.

_Justly, entirely, for he_

_My unknowing, dearly adored Michael_

Gabriel quietly sighed to himself, tallying up the long history together with Michael, conclusively, they were the first angels made aside Lucifer. But their heavenly Father molded Michael's heart, hence by being the most perfect artist; making enough room within the archangel to contain the love for all humanity and the earthly creatures. The archangel's mind both a splitting paradigm and equally consummate with holy idealism, so much so that the general was kept in every prayer, within every known blessed text was he praised with respect, and was most favored by He. The foremost guardian of heaven to be sworn to treasure every beast and wight, knelt upon one knee, bowed his head, and willingly anointed himself with eternal submission as life was breathed into the mortals he though wonderful.

_I bow for thee, I revere thee_

_I fight for thee, I cherish thee_

Scriptures describing the archangel couldn't have been more misleading, given the fact that the second in command had trouble with words accounting Michael only as far as 'glorious'. Neither empty, nor full was Gabriel in his search for the placement of his brother's loyalty, and the evasively open heart. He stood content in shadow as the winged General bathed in dawn's dewy warmth, slender da Vinci fingers sliding along the dark cloak gathered about thin shoulders. Stark black armor barely visible under all the feathers and material, pinched beneath a delicate ribcage and above long legs. 'Angels are meant to be beautiful, but not all are comparable to Michael,' thought Gabriel.

_Yet, at awful standings are we_

_I, caring for him, him, loving many_

Only seeing the holy stigmata once, Gabriel let his eyes pass over the language of He. The second in command knew the etching of the holy tongue was far from perilous, it was unendurable. Just as the archangel's bosom ached with each passing hurt poised on the earthly creatures, so was the pain bestowed onto the world when a searing dagger pressed into his skin. Gabriel met the six dawns with unending tears, unstoppable rivers flowed from his unmoving eyes, the blue surrounding midnight stars hue trained in one direction; to the archangel's blood stained mists rising behind monsoon clouds. All celestial beings bowed their heads in hopes of quelling Michael's screams, and like thunder, his voice echoed louder for seven days, ending on the Sabbath. Finally, on the Day of Rest did he embraced the shivering archangel as he lay on his folded wings, the cries ceasing and deathly silent, whispering over and over, 'O, brother, I've worried so-!'

_My general,_

_My archangel,_

'Do these marks distress you, brother?' Gabriel shuddered, holding his sibling tightly to himself. The image of that dawn burned brighter than the heavenly laurels, permanently engraving the image in his mind; lashes lifting sleepily from a luminously lit face, revealing eyes like a well of unshed tears rested on the second in command. Michael returned the fraternal sharing of warmth, the robe covering his upper torso sliding down in the process, revealing the healed burns winding about the nude body.

_My flawless commander, Michael_

_Thyself succumbs when he speaks_

'Only but a moment, Gabriel, and no longer,' Michael murmured as he cradled the neck closer to his shoulders, and gathered the disarmed angel near.

_Thyself crumbles when he weeps_

_In his arms, he takes no relief as I do_

Gabriel reveled in the familial heat on the side of his cheek, as he recalled. The unceasing streams of days ago felt a soft touch of fingertips sweeping each new drop away, soon joined with a gentle hand stroking his forehead. The winged scribes and scroll keepers left the pair when their attention was needed elsewhere, entrusting the brothers to one another as they held on that languish got the better of them. Hours passed with an arm still braced between the second in command's occupied shoulder blades, and the hand brushing back the brown tufts, stroking from hairline to the nape forgotten and exposed by displaced armor. Michael allowed his brother to trace the black spirals and the ancient language etched in the naked flesh, an orthoepy dead to man, but spoken amongst those circumferential to He. Gabriel followed the eyes glazing over on an object elsewhere.

_Instead, he gazes fondly down below_

_Past the clouds which we are asunder_

Events taking place on earth had the general archangel's notice. Gabriel looked but couldn't see, he summoned all his ability in sight, leaving his mind reeling and somewhat frustrated. Whatever it was had Michael's undivided attention.

_At once, his love he gives to squander_

'Wherefore hath God's children learned cruelty?' Michael inquired, tearing his eyes aside and clutching his brother away from the window to the world. The view of below became suddenly clear; bleeding seas washing the blanched dead to shore, ravens circling over white-speckled oceans, forests reduced to ash, animals appeared as piles of fur and bone. Scenes as these were nothing new; they quietly endured wars and disasters, but this was different. The incident behind the window was neither of a battle nor a ruin left by nature, it was pure man-made destruction, a brief, but devastatingly frightful glimpse of humanity's power.

_Woefully,_

_Peacefully,_

_Hopelessly,_

_Ineluctably,_

Gabriel cherished the bittersweet memories evoked by dolefully mesmerizing moments, he spoke, adding to the cheerless silence, "Is humanity worthy of a love so deep?"

"Denying them is the same as damning him," the general archangel answered, his wings shifting as he pulled the bulking plumage span unto himself and enfolding them vice-like beneath his cloak, thence appearing more human to his brother, "Abandoning them is unthinkable."

The second in command stood fast against the compassion ploy, taking into consideration how he himself couldn't debate while Michael tucked the protective wings away, he answered, setting aside his emotions which equaled his fondness for humanity as every winged soldier was instilled with, "Then he should be suited for a penance just as fitting as his immorality."

"I will not resort to defending where my heart lies," the general said unwaveringly, eyes set upon pluming nimbus gardens prepared for the day after tomorrow, "I forbid it."

Evenly unabated, Gabriel informed, "Our Father does not, Michael. Time and time again, humanity tested His patience. Unsurprisingly, they failed unhindered fearlessly-…"

_My absolute devotion, my love of thou_

_My arms, my shield, my allegiance to thou_

"…-When will you understand, brother?" Gabriel insisted, his resolve bordering anger, "Will it take another war? Another bout of misguided believers exiling us openly?"

"No," Michael murmured humbly, "No, Gabriel, there is hope."

"Our faith in man was challenged the day each heart turned black with sin," persistent still, the archangel surprised himself for what sentiments made clear in violent self-restraint, "They killed, and we still loved them; they are blind with hate, and still we love them; they renounce our Father…Michael, open your eyes!"

"I see well enough that you have lost trust in our pledge, brother. May I remind you that the loss of life, especially the wicked, feel sorrow? Confusion? Pain?" his brother said, crossing both arms and faced away as the shift of balance tilted out of a soon realized peaceful favor, "If we are to endure another cataclysm, I will have none of this madness."

_My serene, my beautiful_

_My general, my archangel_

_My hapless brother, Michael_

"Which is why He requests your presence…" Gabriel said facing away and proceeding down the same shadows which housed the divine army, "I know as does everyone else what to expect of you."

"May your decision be wise as who it is spoken to, He may pity you as you pity the humans," the solemn echoes of a prophesizing whisper carried enough that the general archangel heard every incriminating word, their deleterious meaning distinct within the ensuing reasons, "Because when the order is given, my blade shall not yield, Heaven's army shall not be overcome. Hell will not interfere."

"Gabriel-," Michael called out to the silhouette marching forth to the hall bedecked with morning's suffocated rays, the towering form halted, "Do not test my love, do not make me choose between our Father and his children-nor you, Gabriel."

"This trial is none of mine," said the dissipating presence, "It is He who wills it, I who is merely a witness, and mankind to suffer as the result."

_Obey He once more and cleanse earth of it's darkness_

_Fulfill one task more and rid of the lost innocents_

Word of Michael's refusal passed the instant God heard 'No.' Angels of every degree felt the half relieved and half agonized blow received by their Lord. It's greatest casualty being Gabriel, the near-enraged words before having not swayed his brother, only adding to determination.

_Still, he, my rebellious, sibling_

_He, my unselfish, always yearning_

_"Michael…"_

The second in command sought out his brother, at last catching Michael on the lowest perch where only needing a step transported angels to earth. Bedecked without a sign of panoply, save for the breastplate, the general archangel stood in a simple cloak and robes, wings clasped comfortably. Gabriel asked, "You question Him?"

"I question myself," the archangel murmured, the insecurity in his voice pitiful, his eyes meeting the direction of the shadow and briefly glancing to the light, "And so should you."

"Since their creation, He has told us only to love them," Michael whispered, his voice matching those gently wafting by, he shook his head remorsefully, "I cannot stop."

_Beware_

_Anger, Envy_

_Greed, Gluttony_

_Sloth, Lust, and Pride_

_We firmly abide_

"They have brought this judgment upon themselves," stated the second in command.

"They are just lost," Michael insisted, "It is our place to guide them."

_Laws which bind man to our kind Father_

_A promise we kept well without falter_

"It is our place to obey," declared Gabriel.

"Tell me, Gabriel-," the general archangel cast a sidelong glance to the figure which remained a shadow, "Do you wish to be a son who gives his Father what He asks for or what He needs?"

"This is not your test, Michael," the armed divine soldier said, stepping from the unlit corridors, "How dare you presume to know His heart."

"Because He made this one," Michael asserted, his right hand placed over his heart, "And it tells me He shouldn't lose faith now."

_Brother, you will anger our Father, our Lord,_

_Your choice sets Him more than you can afford_

"It's too late. The order has been given," Gabriel said, causing visible distress as his brother faced him, panic and unforeseen defiance radiating, "The weak will turn against the strong, and you will undo what has been done. And if you defy Him, you'll anger Him for the last time."

"Only if I fail," the archangel corrected, his gaze following the to be feared swarms of unnumbered divine infantries building and organizing. The joined battle cries drowned out the breeze-like prayers, a hand on Michael's shoulder assured him that the vision before them was no longer a matter of preparation, but an act of commencing the long suppressed conflict to befall.

"War is coming to man, Michael, whether you wish it or not," the angel affirmed. The general wept behind the lids of his closed eyes as lips found their way to the crest of his right temple, then once more a gentle kiss bechanced the skin above the iron halo, which fitted heavily like a collar.

_With a touch, we greet_

_With a kiss, we part_

Gabriel withdrew his hand and emotions, melting back into the shadows as he said, "The dogs of Heaven will be unleashed."

He quelled the urge to beg Michael to go against himself and carry through with God's command, both knew full well that now on opposed sides they stood. He felt the forgiving eyes of a traitor behold him as he rose from the platform and take flight, joining his aerial forces where he rightfully belonged. Glancing inferior to the swooping divisions, the soldiers halted in unison, each drawing their weapons and gazes focused on the single treasonist-archangel. Gabriel overcame his inner turmoil and signaled the strategically segmented forces forward. Michael defied his given command for the last time as he lifted a sword out of it's sheath and a dagger from his belt.

All faces stilled, wings beat slower as God's next disappointed instruction entered every obedient mind, the first act of war became authorized: Kill Michael.

_Inexorably bittersweet_

_From the very start_

* * *

><p>…uhhh, that's my take on the events before Michael fell to earth…ok… after i watched Legion for the second or third time… i couldn't Resist~! LOL! But, i am ready to do a full blown piece of 5000+ worded ONE-SHOTS (SLASH, of course &amp; several M17 scenes) &amp; a very possible continuation of this current fic if this little story doesn't bother anyone here, otherwise i'l have to fight with affCOM's uploading process in order to post there, after all, they do have a section for controversial material. No biggie.<p>

~Reviews, words of wisdom, Welcome~!


End file.
